


In Your Own Words

by fiction_is_magic



Category: Magic Kaito
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Kidnapping, M/M, Mutual Pining, dcmk secret santa, fist fic in forever, ish, kaito cant catch a break, saguru is a good detective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 04:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13159263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiction_is_magic/pseuds/fiction_is_magic
Summary: One of the few things Saguru can always count on are Kaito’s classroom antics to liven up a boring school day. Odd that on this particular day Kaito was acting like a model student.





	In Your Own Words

**Author's Note:**

> My dcmk secret santa gift for homosethsual. I hope you like it!

Surely he couldn’t be the only one who noticed something was wrong.

At exactly 8:45 Hakuba Saguru entered class 3-1 for the first time in weeks after one of his many trips abroad. At first, nothing seemed different. Students drifted in as class was about to begin, chatting amongst themselves about this and that. 

After the final bell, the school day started and the teacher began his lecture. That was the first difference he noticed, a substitute teacher who introduced himself as Mr. Saito. However, there were a number of reasons for their teacher to potentially be absent, which made it nothing to dwell upon.

Time, as it is wont to do, marched on and precisely ten minutes into the lecture Saguru noticed the elephant in the room; aside from his voice, it had been quiet the entire time.

Now that he had noticed it, it was like a fog lingering in the room. Usually by this point there would’ve been at least one interruption by Kuroba, followed by banter between him and Nakamori. But, thinking back, he realized that he had yet to hear either of them speak a word.

A glance to the side reaffirmed his earlier observation that both Nakamori and Kuroba were in attendance today. However, further inspection revealed that something was clearly off about his classmates.

Nakamori’s usually happy demeanor had been replaced with a false bravado. She was clearly trying to be interested in the math equation on the board, but her stern expression and restless hands—which she tried to conceal under her desk—told him that her mind was struggling to be elsewhere. Odd, considering how open she tended to be with her expressions.

But if Nakamori was acting odd, then Kuroba’s actions could only be described as acting like a stranger.

As opposed to his childhood friend, who was struggling to pay attention to the lecture, Kuroba seemed to actually be paying attention. No glancing out the window, no tablet in his lap with the day’s news, no card tricks under the table, not even a bored expression. Instead, he appeared to be actively taking notes about a math concept that Saguru was positive that Kuroba could work out in his sleep.

Not only that, but from Saguru’s angle he could see just enough of Kuroba’s expression to be able to describe it as—well, he wasn’t sure how to describe it.

Blank. It was the only word that he felt fit. It was a word Saguru had never thought would apply to Kuroba Kaito.

Kuroba was simply staring at the board, his hand moving across the paper without him seeming to look down at it. He just continued to stare at the board with an unwavering gaze.But aside from his behavior,there was something else off, but Saguru just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Ahem.”

Saguru was pulled away from his observation by the sound of the substitute,an average unassuming man whose only noteworthy feature was a faded scar across the left side of his cheek, as though something had been slashed across his face, clearing his throat.

“Hakuba, perhaps you could take a break from staring at the sky and answer the equation on the board for us?”

“The answer is 4x5.” 

A simple problem that took less than a moment for him to solve.

“A-ah, yes that’s correct.”The substitute clearly hadn’t been expecting such a quick response from someone who had been ‘staring at the sky,’ but the man quickly recovered and continued on.

Saguru moved on as well, redirecting his attention to Kuroba, but there’d been no change. The boy continued to stare and write, as though that’s all he could do. Kuroba’s odd actions and stiff body language made the detective unusually uneasy. Something was very clearly wrong here, but without further investigation it would be impossible to know what. If Saguru was going to get to the bottom of this,then the lunch period would be his best opportunity.

More time passed, and eventually the lunch period began. Some students gathered into their respective friend groups, with other leaving the class to pester students in other rooms. On a normal day this would be the time that Nakamori would either join Kuroba or Koizumi for lunch, but this had already proved to be a day out of the ordinary.

Instead of joining either of them,Saguru watched as Nakamori stood abruptly and quickly left the room, not taking a moment to acknowledge anyone on her way out.

“Surely you’ve noticed.”

Pulled away again from his observations, Saguru turned back around to find Akako Koizumi standing in front of his desk. As vague as her statement had been, he knew she was referring to their friends’ odd behavior. 

Before he had a chance to reply she started speaking again, either deciding that he knew what she meant or just being too impatient to hear his response.“Under normal circumstances I would intervene myself, however, I’m afraid I have other obligations at the moment.” She continued to be as vague as she was beautiful, but for some reason Saguru couldn’t bring himself to care.

“I’m confident you’ll be able to figure out the answer but you should hurry, he needs you. Be wary of strangers and beware, if you are not out before the clock strikes twelve neither of you   
will be able to return.”

Before he could ask her what any of that could possibly mean, she was already making her way out of the room, leaving Saguru even more confused than before. This wasn’t the first strange message she had left him, and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last, but he knew that her mysterious words were guidance based on knowledge, which he couldn’t fathom how she obtained. Nevertheless, it only assured him that there was something going on that was larger than a simple case of ‘odd behavior.’

Continuing the odd behavior, Kuroba simply sat at his desk, looking around the room, not making any attempt to interact with his classmates or eat any lunch of his own. It was time to take direct action and at the moment the best way to do so was talk to the suspect in question.

“Good afternoon Kuroba, how are you today? You don’t seem much like your usual self, perhaps all of that sneaking around under the moonlight is catching up with your sleep schedule.”

Nothing like a good old jab at the boy’s night job to kick start their usual banter. Any allusion to Kuroba’s identity as Kid never failed to generate a defensive rebuttal. 

“I don’t seem like myself? What would you like me to do then?”

Saguru was nothing short of dumbfounded by his response. Instead of the usual denial of his identity as a master thief, Kuroba didn’t even blink an eye at his comment. 

In fact, Kuroba literally wasn’t blinking. He was giving Saguru a quizzical look, every part of his expression showing sincere confusion. There were so many red flags that Saguru didn’t even know where to begin.

First was his response. What would Saguru like Kuroba to do? There had been true questioning in Kuroba’s voice as though he was seeking Saguru’s honest opinion on what he should be doing at that moment.

All the rest could be combined into one category: body language. Saguru was fairly certain he had only seen Kuroba’s true emotions a handful of times, due to the numerous lies and masks Kuroba surrounded himself with at all times to keep his identity a secret. But in this moment, everything about Kuroba seemed sincere.Furrowed brow, hands clinging to his knees, tilted head, all tale tell signs of confusion that any amateur could read. Saguru had never seen Kuroba so unguarded and it nearly left the detective speechless. 

“Um, well I don’t necessarily want you to do anything. Well, except perhaps turn yourself into the police.” Perhaps Saguru was reading too much into this and Kuroba was actually tired?

“Sorry, I don’t really have time to be arrested right now.” 

Any hope that Saguru had of Kuroba simply having an off day were completely dashed. He had seen Kuroba come to school days after being impaled by glass and put on his normal high schooler act flawlessly. This was no mere lack of sleep. Saguru knew that continuing this line of questioning in the middle of a school day probably wasn’t the best Idea, so he decided to move on to something less Kid related.

“Well, perhaps you have time to tell me what’s bothering Nakamori? She doesn’t seem to be acting like herself either.”

Kuroba moved one of his hands from his knees to prop his head up, still staring at Saguru with the same confused, unblinking, expression.

“Hm, I don’t know. She asked me where I was the other night and I told her. Then she got really upset and won’t talk to me anymore, I don’t really know why though.” 

“And what were you doing?”

“I…I shouldn’t tell you.”

“Shouldn’t tell me what?”

“What I did. I want to tell you but I know I can’t.”

“You…want to tell me?”

“I don’t understand. I want to be honest with you but I know I can’t tell you. It’s probably because I—“

“Kuroba Kaito.”

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Kuroba turned his head to look at the classroom entrance. There, Mr. Saito stood with a neutral expression on his face.

“Could you please come with me for a moment, I could use some assistance.”

“Okay.” 

Without another word to the boy in front of him, Kuroba stood up and left the room with Mr.Saito, leaving Saguru with a stunned expression and cocktail of emotions and questions to sort through.

He had been so close. Kuroba had been so close to blatantly saying that he was the Kaito Kid, and after that conversation Saguru was convinced that Kuroba had blatantly told Nakamori that on the night of the eighteenththat he had been at the Sazuki estate, stealing the Celestial Peridot.

But why?

What had changed in Kuroba’s life that was causing him to act so strangely, and to be so loose with his secrets?

Saguru returned to his seat and ran through the information in his mind. This was all far too odd, and he was far too invested in Kuroba Kaito’s affairs to let any of it slide.When he had first arrived in Japan he would have killed to hear what Kuroba had just told him, it was practically a confession.

But at some point Saguru had become invested for personal reasons, and as much as his past self would despise him for saying so, he was not about to let the boy he loved ruin himself, at least not without a good reason.

As the lunch period ended students began filing back into the classroom, until finally Kuroba and Mr. Saito returned. By the time Kuroba sat down and resumed staring at the blackboard, Saguru had decided on his next course of action.

Something was going on with Kuroba Kaito, and detective Hakuba Saguru was going to find out what. After sending a quick text to let Baya know he would not need a ride home from school, he joined Nakamori in pretending to pay attention to the lecture and waited.

\- - -

At exactly 3:15 the class said farewell to their substitute teacher and left the classroom as they did every day, with a few exceptions.

Just as quickly as she had left for lunch Nakamori rushed to leave the classroom for the day, most likely not wanting to have any interaction with her childhood friend,as the thought of having her long time suspicions confirmed was still fresh. There would be a time for her and Kuroba to work that out between themselves but that was not now.

Following behind her, Koizumi gave Saguru one final, knowing glance before leaving as well.

One thing that seemed to remain consistent today was that Kuroba was one of the first to leave the room, after quickly putting away his things. Saguru, on the other hand, slowly collected his own things to give him a head start so he could trail the suspect.

Saguru followed Kuroba out of the school and along roads filled with other students making their way home. Saguru had wondered what it would be like to walk home with the boy he liked, too bad his first time doing so was with him acting like a stalker instead.

From the few times he had been to the Nakamori residence, he recalled that they were going the right way, until Kuroba made a sudden turn down an unfamiliar street fifteen minutes into their walk. For a moment Saguru worried that Kuroba had figured out that he was being followed, but the longer they walked, the more assured Saguru felt that he hadn’t been found out, but also more assured that they weren’t going to the Kuroba family home either.

The longer they walked, the more twists and turns Kuroba took. Saguru felt like the path was meant to shake any followers like himself but the pace Kuroba was walking was one of leisure, not one fast enough to lose pursuers. 

After nearly an hour, Kuroba stopped at an old, run down home that had clearly seen its better days. Yellowing grass and patches of dirt occupied the front lawn, while the house itself looked as though it would fall in on itself at any moment. 

Without hesitation, Kuroba pulled a single key from his pocket and unlocked the front door, ignoring a sign that Saguru could only assume labeled the house as condemned. 

After waiting a few minutes Saguru approached the front yard and began to assess his surroundings. This house was far from the only one in the neighborhood that had seen its better days, but it was the only one in that bad of a condition. A quick glance at the ground showed sets of tire tracks in the dirt, a single car coming and going multiple times. Following the tracks to the open back yard led him to a used car. He walked up to it and placed his hand on the hood, which was still warm, meaning that whoever drove the car had recently arrived, and was most likely in the house with Kuroba. 

His instincts told him to get help. His heart told him not to.

Being mindful of the windows, Saguru continued to walk around the house, looking for any other useful bits of information. As he continued around the house he eventually came to a small window on the ground that appeared to lead to some kind of basement. He lowered himself and peered into the darkness, only being able to see faint lights flash in and out and hear a low whir of machinery. Large computers? Potentially, but he would need to get a better look to be sure. 

There seemed to be nothing else of use to be gained from the outside of the house, if he wanted to get any more information he would have to get inside somehow. 

While that usually wouldn’t be a smart idea when he had no back up and no one who knew of his location, he couldn’t stop thinking about Koizumi’s words from earlier in the day.

‘He needs you.’

It was all the convincing he needed to know he was in the right place and about to do the right thing. But before he could even make a move to get up off the ground a hard object collided with the back of his head and sent him face first into the dirt.

\- - - 

Saguru couldn’t remember falling asleep, especially not on a concrete floor.

“….ba…” “H…ba…”

Someone was saying something. His name? No, Baya wouldn’t wake him like that, and it was definitely not his alarm. 

“Hak..a…”

No, no that was probably someone calling his name, he should get up and check it out, but being awake was painful, why would he want to wake up to pain just because someone was saying his name? Unless it was someone important. Someone like…

“Hakuba!”

Saguru’s eyes shot open, something he immediately regretted as the light began to sting his eyes. Now fully awake he began to understand where the pain he wanted to sleep through was coming from. Tentatively, he reached a hand behind his head a quickly pulled it away, dried blood sticking on a few of his fingertips. As he caught his bearings, Saguru heard a deep sigh of relief from next to him. 

“Oh thank god, I thought you might’ve been dead.” 

Looking up, Saguru felt his heart lurch with joy, then immediately drop with the weight of the situation that was rapidly unfolding before him.

About two feet away from him was Kuroba Kaito, alive, but tied to a support beam of the dusty room they were in, looking tired and worse for wear. For a dreary, run down basement room with stark concrete floors, the lights were oddly bright. Beside the two of them the only things in the room were an old clothing rack was shoved in the corner with a few of their school uniforms on it, an old speaker hanging from the ceiling by a thin electrical wire, and a single spring bed in the opposite corner.

Now fully aware of his surroundings, Saguru looked over at Kuroba and examined him in a bit more detail. He was wearing a dirty white button up and a pair of equally dirty school pants. His eyes had deep, dark circles underneath them and he sported a yellowing bruise on his left cheek. 

Regardless of Kuroba’s situation, though, Saguru’s assailant hadn’t tied him up as well and so at least there was that to be grateful of.

“Hey, are you alright? You don’t have a concussion, do you?” 

“I don’t think so, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough if I do.” Saguru crawled over behind Kaito and examined the knots securing him to the pole, looking for the best way to untie him “Kuroba, what is going on here?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, these are some pretty tight knots so I think I’ve got the time.”

“I think it happened a few days ago, maybe more. I don’t really know what day it is, honestly. I, I was jumped on my way home and woke up here with…”

“With me.”

Both Saguru and Kuroba quickly turned to address the intruder in the room. Standing in the narrow doorway to the room was Kuroba Kaito. Saguru couldn’t believe it, struggling to recall if seeing things was a symptom of a concussion or not.

“I can see the confusion on your face, I suppose it is quite a lot to take in.”

A semi-familiar voice spoke from a darkened passageway beyond Saguru’s field of vision. The standing Kuroba walked a bit into the room to let the second figure step in, someone Saguru hadn’t expected to see again—Mr. Saito, their substitute teacher.

Saito grinned down at the two boys on the floor, then gestured to the one standing next to him.

“Amazing, isn’t he? I can’t take credit for the design but you have to admit he’s a spitting image of the original, not even his own mother could tell the two apart, based on looks alone.”

“That thing’s a robot.” Kuroba was glaring at the figures in the doorway, his body tensing either out of anger or a defensive response Saguru couldn’t tell.

“He’s a what?”

“I’m not a robot, I’m a human!” The standing Kuroba, the robot, was pouting and had curled his hands in front of his chest in a childish manner, clearly offended by Kuroba’s comment.

Saito chuckled, “Well you aren’t a human yet, but don’t worry, we’re getting you there.”

The robot’s pout only depend, its sense of self clearly a sore subject with it. Content with the robot’s silence, Saito turned back to the two and continued addressing them.

“As you’ve noticed, he’s a perfect replica of Kuroba Kaito in looks, but we’re still ironing out the personality and mannerisms. Nothing a few months of experiments and coding can’t fix.”

“But why? Why would you do this? What’s the point of this?” Saguru wasn’t sure what to make of the situation—why would someone want to make a robot replica of Kuroba? Saito seemed to be the chatty sort, so the detective figured he might as well try and get as much information as possible while he continued to work on Kaito’s binds.

“To continue my grandfather’s legacy.”

Saguru blinked, his voice flat, free of inflection, “what.”

“My grandfather, I’m continuing the work he left behind when he died. You see, my grandfather was obsessed with creating the ultimate human, one to advance the human race and move it into the future, one that could never die, never tire. To him, robotics was the only answer. So he kidnapped a healthy young boy who lived alone and made him the model for his greatest creation.”

Next to him, Saguru could feel Kuroba tense ever so slightly at the memory.

“Eventually my grandfather’s creation grew too self aware and murdered him to gain its freedom, and was destroyed by its human counterpart. However, my grandfather had a back up of all of his data, something I found when I inherited his estate. I went through it all—especially the robot’s black box. Imagine how surprised my grandfather would have been to realize he had managed to create a replica of the Kaito Kid! But the first version of his creation was a failure, so I’ve taken it upon myself to continue his work with a newer, better version, using the test subject my grandfather obtained. I felt it was fitting, and that way I could reuse some of my grandfather’s original data. So detective Hakuba, what do you think of my work?”

“While I can’t help but be impressed by your knowledge of robotics, you must forgive me if I disapprove of its application.”

“Ha, I suppose I can’t blame you for that. But don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know my creation. Kaito.”

“Yes doctor?” For the first time since the ‘substitute’ entered the room, the robot spoke from his position behind him.

“Watch over our guest, I have some preparations to make for his stay.”

“Yes doctor.”

“Well, you three have fun now.” With a wave and a grin that could only be worn by a deranged soul, Saito took his leave, closing the door behind him.

While it was hard for Saguru to believe, the reality of their situation was staring him in the face. A robot, that looked exactly like the boy he was almost done untying, was staring back at him, not blinking, not breathing, just staring. And as he worked on the last bit of knot, Saguru stared back.

“Even if you untie him, you won’t be able to do anything, He can tell you that.” The robot motioned to Kuroba, “he’s seen what I can do when I get mad.”

“Can you even truly get mad? Are you capable of truly feeling any emotion?” While antagonizing the thing assigned to keep them in a room probably wasn’t the best idea, Saguru couldn’t hide the venom in his voice, frustrated with both their predicament and what was, without a doubt, the most frustrating knot he had ever experienced in his entire life.

“Of course I can feel emotion! Right now I’m sad and hurt that you would even say such a thing to me.”

“Is that a true emotion, or is it a program telling you how you should feel?” 

“Does it matter? It’s how I feel, so I say that it’s an emotion I am experiencing in this moment.”

After that the three of them fell into a tense silence, the only sound being Saguru’s fingers scratching against the rope. For the second time that day Saguru realized that Kuroba was being uncharacteristically quiet, and now that he was closer, Saguru could better see just how tired Kuroba looked. He wondered if the magician had gotten any sleep or food while being trapped in the basement. Finally, after approximately ten minutes, fifty-three seconds, the knot came undone and the rope went slack around Kuroba. The blood on Saguru’s fingertips was now fresh, but worth it to help Kuroba stretch his body after being stuck in that position for who knew how long.

“I told you it’s no use, what’s the point? Even if he had enough strength to stand on his own, there’s no way he’d be any help to you. See? He’s already gone.”

Saguru didn’t appreciate the word usage, but the robot was right, now that Kuroba was laying on the floor instead of sitting up, he had passed out, most likely having used the last of his energy to try and wake Saguru earlier.

“You shouldn’t bother with someone weak like him. I’m a superior being, much more capable of being the Kaito Kid and a regular boy.”

“You aren’t a regular boy.”

“I’m a better human.”

“You could never be better than him.” The words came out as something close to a curse. First these people hurt one of the few friends he had, and now this imitation claimed to be better than the best person Saguru had ever gotten to know? Well, at least Kuroba wasn’t awake to see him lose his composure.

From under his bangs, Saguruwas glaring so hard that it could make even the hardest criminals break. But the robot just stared back at him, unfazed, his reply calm. “I don’t have to be better than him, I AM him.”

“You are not Kuroba Kaito.”

“I am now.”

Saguru tightened his grip on Kuroba’s shoulder, which wasn’t a lot of support, but it was enough to keep him from further lashing out at something that could probably kill him easily, if his inferences from earlier conversations had told him anything.

“Why are you clinging to him so much? He can’t protect you.”

“I think you’ll find I’m quite capable of protecting myself.”

“He can’t…”

“Why do you care so bloody much what he can and can’t do for me?”

“Because I can do those things for you.”

Any angry rebuttal he may have had died on his lips, his expression becoming confused. Why would this robot want to be there for him?

“Why would you want to do any of those things for me?”

“Probably because I love you.”

“Wha—“

“I tried to tell you earlier, when we were talking about honestly. I’m being honest with you even though something else is telling me to lie to you. I love you.”

Saguru was speechless, mouth agape with no sound coming out. Even if he had anything to say, he would have been cut off by Saito’s voice ringing through the room from the speaker.

“Kuroba, come to the examination room for your new upgrade.”

The robot looked up at the speaker, then back at Saguru.

“I have to go now. It felt good to be honest with you, I hope we can be honest together when I come back.”

With that, the robot finally moved from his spot by the door to leave, locking the door behind him. That left Saguru with the internal conflict of figuring out how to escape with the real Kuroba, or imagining that it had been the real Kuroba who had just said that to him. For a moment he lingered on the latter, but he shook it off, quickly decided he would rather live to see a future where his Kuroba told him that with feeling in his eyes, instead of a soulless imitation.

But for that to come he would have to find a way for them to escape. Kuroba was completely passed out, and would be little to no help. But hey— at least now he had an excuse for doing all of those escape rooms last summer. 

Another examination of the room seemed to reveal nothing, but upon further inspection he noted that the hangers for the uniforms were wire. And so he stood, taking one of them to the door and kneeling down to examine the lock. He wasn’t nearly as good as Kuroba, but this was far from the first lock he ever had to pick. After a few moments of fiddling with the lock, a familiar click sounded. Finally, something going right during this awful day.

Returning to Kuroba’s side, Saguru lifted him onto his back as quickly as he could, knowing the robot or Saito could return at any moment. With his hands occupied in keeping Kuroba upright on his back, Saguru kicked the door open, musing that perhaps at a later date, he’d tell people how heroic he looked illuminated by the light of the room behind him, as he ventured into the darkness to safely bring the love of his life back home.

As his eyes began to adjust to the light, Saguru made his way through the hall into a room filled wall to wall with flashing computers and other various electrical components. A quick glance at a small window, too high to reach confirmed that this was the room he had peered into earlier. The world outside the window was dark, and his pocket watch would easily confirm his suspicions about the time, but he couldn’t reach it without displacing his precious cargo. If he had his phone of course he could just call for help and wait, but he realized rather early on that he didn’t have that anymore.

The dark machinery and the flashing lights made it difficult to navigate the room, causing him to bump into many things as he tried to find his way through the maze of a room, to where he would assume a staircase might be, based on his knowledgeof architecture and the clues he had acquired from his tour of the outside of the house. As he stumbled around in the dark he felt himself collide with a large metal drum that went crashing to the floor with a thundering clang. Saguru cringed, there was no possible way that it had gone unheard. Either the robot, Saito, or both would be on to their escape now and time was even more of the essence.

Abandoning all caution, Saguru pushed forward in an attempt to find an exit as quickly as possible or, if one couldn’t be found, a temporary place to hide from their pursuers. As he went forward, another barrel collided with the concrete floor, and now he realized that these drums must have had oil in them at one point, occasionally some spilling out onto the floor creating an uncomfortably sticky sound when he walked through. After what felt like hours of navigating though the dark that he knew was closer to seven minutes, he finally saw what he wanted after coming around some large bulky piece of machinery. A small sliver of light at the top of the stairs. In hindsight, it may have been a good idea to bring that wire hanger but it was too late for that, even if he could find his way back.

“That’s far enough, detective.”

Of course nothing could go smoothly after a day like that.

From the darkness, Saito’s voice reverberated off the machinery, making it impossible to pinpoint his location in the darkness.

“Saguru.”

For a moment, his heart stopped. Hearing Kuroba’s voice say his name, something he had wanted to hear for a long time. It wasn’t real, he knew that, so why did it still sound so good?

“Why are you running away? I thought we were going to be honest with each other, that we were going to be together. Do you really like that inferior version that much more than me?”

No need to respond and give away their location in case they don’t know it, just a sprint to the door and make a break for it.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you, detective. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean something dangerous isn’t pointed at you. One of my many improvements to make sure this Kuroba can be the ultimate phantom thief was night vision, you’re just a sitting duck in the dark. Even if he somehow misses his target, you won’t even make it up the stairs before he reaches you.”

Saguru knew that the longer he stood there, the less of a chance they had of escaping with their lives, but Saito was correct—their options were limited. He needed a way to slow the robot down in a pursuit. As he breathed in the scent of oil in the air the answer was obvious—dangerous, but obvious. 

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’ve created a sentient robot, and you doubt its ability to find you in the dark? Really detective, now you’re just grasping at straws.”

“Or perhaps I’m calling a very obvious bluff.”

“Then perhaps this will change your mind.”

From somewhere in the room Saito snapped his fingers, the sounds reverberating like his voice, followed by silence.

“Why are you waiting for?! Shoot him!”

“I don’t want to.” 

The robots voice was quieter now, harder to hear over the machinery in contrast to Saito’s, which grew louder with aggravation.

“You ingrate! Who do you think you’re talking to? When I tell you to shoot something, you shoot it.”

“I want to choose what I do or don’t do.”

“You’re a machine created to do as I say, and I say shoot!”

It took approximately one minute, ten seconds for Saito’s words to be followed by a series of sounds. First gunfire, then a gasp of pain, a bullet hitting electrical components, sparks, ignition, then burning. Light began to spread as the newly created fire found more and more puddles of oil to feed on, following the winding trail that Saguru’s footsteps had made through the room to the stairs.

Not bothering to see how these events would play out, Saguru bolted up the stairs,fueled by his own desire to get away from the spreading flames. With some difficulty, he got a hand free while still supporting Kuroba’s full weight, using the wall as a crutch to keep them both upright as he struggled to open the—thankfully unlocked—door. It was a good thing robotics was Saito’s forte because it certainly wasn’t kidnapping.

With the door open, Saguru rushed to get through it, away from Saito’s screams and the robot’s own sounds, no longer human-like, but still sounding as if it was trying to convey a mournful message.

In his rush to enter the ground floor hallway both Saguru and Kuroba fell to the floor. The fire was spreading quickly. Through the old floorboards smoke was beginning to rise, stinging Saguru’s eyes as he struggled to stand. 

As he worked to get Kuroba onto his back once more, a chill ran through him as somewhere in the old house, a grandfather clock began to chime. Then he remembered Koizumi’s vague words from before. He had to the stroke of midnight for them both to make it out alive.

Back on his feet Saguru could see the front door through the thickening smoke. It was becoming harder to breath by the second and seconds were not something he could afford to waste.

Rushing forward with all the strength and speed he could muster, Saguru bolted for the door. By the time he had reached it five more chimes rang from the clock accompanied by the crackle of the fire below his feet. 

He was couching now, the smoke so thick his eyes watered as they struggled to see the door in front of him. Through his school jacket he was sweating profusely, the temperature rising. Another chime, only five more for him to get the door open.

Unlike the basement door the front was locked with a deadbolt. Something easy enough on its own but when one is struggling to breathe and keep a hold on Kuroba’s dead weight simple tasks evolve into something more daunting.

The eighth chime.

With some uncomfortable adjusting Saguru was able to reach his hand out, fumbling with the warm metal until the lock came lose.

The ninth chime.

No time to lose. Saguru griped the doorknob, the metal now burning his hand, and sharply twisted.

The tenth chime.

Throwing the door open Saguru stumbled out onto the doorstep, barely keeping his footing.

The eleventh chime.

Still riding his earlier wave of adrenaline he began to run as far away from the house as he could. 

The twelfth chime never came.

At the stroke of midnight the fire had found its way all through the basement level, igniting with gas and electrical components. Creating an explosion that decimated the building, creating a force strong enough to knock Saguru off his feet, reuniting him with the lawn of the now nonexistent house. As the fire roared behind him, all Saguru could feel was the 

weight of Kuroba on top of him, and the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness.

\- - -

For the second time of what could only be described as the most stressful day of his life, Saguru could not remember falling asleep. 

From somewhere next to him a machine was beeping. He had heard that sound enough to recognize it as a machine keeping record that he was still in fact alive. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know he was lying in a hospital bed, a feeling that was more familiar to him that it should be for someone his age.

Opening his eyes he was relieved to find that they no longer stung, the stark white of the ceiling being a welcome sight compared to his last sight before blacking out. 

“Good morning.”

To his right Saguru turned to see Kuroba looking back at him. With his bed positioned in front of an open window Kuroba was illuminated by the pale light of the setting moon. The magician still looked absolutely exhausted, but it was a noticeable improvement from being tied to a pole.

Saguru was positive he had never been so happy to see someone blink in his entire life.

“How do you feel?”

“Pretty shitty but I’m alive at least.”

Saguru chuckled. These first few seconds had proved to him that the Kuroba he was talking to was the real deal. It had been an honest answer but it still had traces of the boy trying to lighten the mood with some semblance of sarcastic humor.

“Well I suppose that’s a start.”

Kuroba slowly say up and turned to look out the window, a shallow silence falling between them only broken by the occasional beeping of heart monitors reassuring Saguru that this wasn’t a dream, he really was alive.

“It’s all thanks to you…”

“Well this is surprising; I never thought I’d ever hear you thank me for something.”

“I’m serious.”

Saguru took a moment and assessed the mood of the room. He had thought Kaito would want to resume a sense of normalcy with their usual banter, but it was now obvious that Kuroba’s masks were still down, this moment a time for honesty as opposed to their usual game of lies. 

“I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t found me, I don’t think that guy was planning on keeping me around much longer.”

Kuroba took a deep breath. Saguru could only imagine the look on his face, his real face instead of his poker face. 

“When I was down there I knew people would start looking for me eventually. But what if they were too late? I thought you were still in London. I kept thinking ‘too bad Hakuba isn’t here, he’d know I’d been replaced as soon as he saw the fake.’”

“What made you think I could notice something like that before Nakamori or someone else who’s known you longer?”

“Because you’re you. The first day you walked into class you accused me of being Kid. No evidence needed, you just knew.”

“It’s fairly obvious.”

“Heh, maybe to you.”

Not even a hint of denial was present in Kuroba’s voice. Hardly a confession, but the weight of those absent words hung heavy between the two.

“Hey Hakuba… let’s be honest. At least for a little while. Can we do that?”

Saguru was stunned. This entire day had been kick started when Saguru had noticed Kuraba wasn’t acting like himself. But this was different. When the robot had asked Saguru if he could be honest he wanted to do nothing of the sort. But now, hearing the slight pain in Kuroba’s voice, knowing how difficult it must be for someone so guarded to even start this conversation. Saguru wanted to do nothing else with his time. Shifting in his own hospital bed, Saguru sat up continuing to look at the person who had somehow managed to become the most important person in his life.

“Yes. I think we can both be capable of that.”

“Hum, sometimes I wonder.”

“Then at the very least we can try out best, we’re only human after all.”

“Heh. Well I guess I’ll start.”

Three minutes and ten seconds passed before he actually started. Just enough time for Kuroba to gather the composure needed. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“You know, I passed out for a bit back there. But not the entire time, I was kind of fading in an out. I remember you untying me, laying me down, walking through that computer room.”

So far this was nothing noteworthy. All of these things had happened, there was nothing that Saguru could think of that warranted questioning.

“I remember parts of a conversation you had with that thing.”

Oh.

“I didn’t hear all of it, but there was one part in particular that I need to know about. Hakuba?

Saguru gulped, had he made a mistake? Had Kurioba been able to deduce his feelings for him?

“Yes Kuroba?” 

“Did that thing, the robot, did it say that it loved you?”

“…it did.”

“What did you think about that?”

What did he think? He thought so many things. Thought about how he wanted to hide away under his thin blankets. How he didn’t want to ruin his tentative friendship with Kuroba by saying what he really thought. How he wanted to lie about what he really thought. But as they say, no time like the present. Besides, they were being honest.

“I thought that the next time I heard that I wanted it to be in your own words.”

Even heavier than the weight of Kuroba not denying his identity, Saguru’s confession hung between them like a brick. Threatening to drag Saguru into the abyss which at the moment seemed like it wouldn’t be such a bad place.

Now all Saguru could think about was what Kuroba thought of him. Surely this was the end of their unspoken friendship. Kuroba would return to despising him, perhaps even more so than when they were just detective and thief. 

“I’m kind of disappointed.”

There it was. The disapproval Saguru knew he would receive. That didn’t mean Kuroab’s words stung any less.

“I mean I thought at the very least I’d get to take you out on a date before you found out.”

All feelings of self loathing were instantly washed away, leaving Saguru in a momentary state of suspense and confusion. Had he hard wrong? No, no Kuroba had really just said that.

“I was going to make a whole thing out of it ya know? Maybe a movie first, I was thinking about that one that just came out. You know the one about the serial kidnappings? I thought you might like that one. I kind of want to see that one anime one that came out too though. Maybe we would have done both. After that I wanted to take you somewhere nice. Though I don’t really know what food you like so maybe someplace that offers a bit of everything. There’s also this good ramen shop near the theater that would probably be good too.”

“You…you want to take me out on a date?”

“Yea I do, If you want too anyway…”

“I’d love too!” Saguru immediately began to turn red. Not that Kuroba could see since he was still looking out the window but Saguru had a feeling he could knew since he chuckled again. 

“Impatient Detective?” 

“Perhaps just a bit.”

Before he notices that Kuroba had moved Saguru realized that he was face to face with the magician who had seemingly teleported into his lap. He had never been so close to Kuroba. The two of them eye to eye, their faces less than an inch apart. For the first time since honesty hour started Saguru could see Kuroba’s face, eyes attempting to be serious yet laced with excitement and a tad of apprehension.

“Me too. Hakuba.”

“Saguru.”

“What?”

“I want you to use my first name.”

“Heh, only if you start using mine.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

“Alright then, Saguru.”

“Yes Kaito?

“I love you.”

Saguru wanted nothing more than to reciprocate those words. But before he had the chance Kaito’s lips were on his. A firm, purposeful kiss that Saguru knew he would be more than happy to fall into for the rest of his days.


End file.
